Is the iPad turnaround coming?

Jean-Louis Gassée believes that the iPad turnaround, where the naysayers are predicting doom and gloom due to the huge dip in sales. This, after writing about the relaunched iPad product line, sans pro, in the Monday Note piece:

This leads us to an easy guess for future iPad Pros. We’re likely to see linear hardware and software improvements (keyboard, screen, stylus, more independent windows…), plus others we can’t think of immersed, as we often are, in derivative thought. All will make the Pros more pro: Powerful enough of take business away from the Mac (and Windows PCs). I like my MacBook, but can see an iPad Pro on my lap and desk in a not-too-distant future.

I believe this is possible, I know the vast majority of people would enjoy their computing tasks more if they used an iPad Pro instead, with the suitable accessories of course. However that’s a big step, and for some a change in mindset. It’s a tough battle to win.

I write columns for Di Digital, a Swedish business tech site, and whenever I mention a computing solution that’s far from the laptop, I get emails about “not being able to work without the Thinkpad nub” and the like. People, professionals especially, are creatures of habit.

That said, putting iPad Pros in the workflow of the younger generation, which are clearly the target of the new iPad Pro ads (one embedded below), might be the longterm route to success. Some industries you disrupt over night, others take more time. Professional computing work isn’t as easily defined as a smart mobile phone segment.

Oh, and before you click play, make sure you read the whole Jean-Louis Gassée piece and the tiny little note about perspectives at the end. The iPad is a big deal, the only reason Apple pundits and analysts are chirping about its doom is because of the declining sales. That’s only really a truly worrying factor if people never upgrades their iPads. Looking at my immediate surroundings, that’s something people are interested in doing.